East Coast Summer Series: Portland + Seaside Stops

This is the first of four posts on my recent mother-daughter + girls trip to Maine in August including stops in Portland, Freeport, Cape Elizabeth, York, Kennebunkport, and Old Orchard Beach. Come back each week or subscribe to the blog to get brand spankin new posts delivered right to your inbox, as they make their splash! 💌

I’ve visited a lot of American states in my 32 years, but Maine is hands down one of my favorites. Every time I visit, it feels like coming home and there’s nothing quite like the never ending, wave rolling, lighthouse lined, beaches of New England.

Again, I’m kind of a beach connoisseur.

Because I took at least 2,000 pictures on this trip (I wish I was kidding but I’m not) it would be impossible to even narrow down 7 days of photographic evidence of adventure into one post, so instead, I’m going to share over the course of four posts, all featuring different destinations along the Maine coast.

To get things rolling, let’s start with Portland + seaside stops.

On our way down to Maine from Canada, we made a few seaside stops along the way in seaside towns. We checked out the St. Croix Island International Historic Site. Awed over the Penobscot Narrows Bridge at Fort Knox. Ate lobster rolls at the famous Red’s Eats in Wiscasset. And naturally, I pulled over for the obligatory Route 1 Coastal sign, as one does.

Of course, when we drove by the turn off for beautiful Bar Harbor (another Maine favorite of mine) we had to stop and give Cadillac Mountain and friends a wave from this stunning road side lookout.

After an exciting afternoon on the road, it was time for mamacita and I to meet up with one of my favorite American humans – the ever lovely Colleen. Colleen was joining us from New York State and with us for the next four days of our trip. Needless to say, this meant ALL the photo ops because neither one of us really knows the meaning of moderation when it comes to vacation photography.

For night one of the trip, an evening on Portland’s waterfront was in order, with a side of epic sunset. Just for good measure.

On day two of the trip, we woke up bright and early to grab a country breakfast at the Cracker Barrel, which also meant, an impromptu photoshoot on their porch with checker boards and rockers.

Afterwards, we headed out to Cape Elizabeth to spend a morning with the Portland Head Lighthouse, where so many great photos took place, that, well, theywill be coming in the next post, dedicated entirely to Cape Elizabeth.

We ended the afternoon with a trip to Freeport, Maine for a little bit of outlet shopping and a quick visit to the LL Bean flagship store to say hello to the famous Bean Boot.

That night, we headed back out to Cape Elizabeth for the sunset. As you may have predicated, those photos will be coming in my next post too.

Seriously. If you haven’t been to Portland, ME, it is worth visiting. There’s great shopping, amazing restaurants and brew pubs, plenty of fresh seafood, and just the right amount of hipster feel to make you feel like you could be on the Pacific North West.

Coming next week – Cape Elizabeth. Sneak peek of its famous lighthouse here.

About

East Coast Mermaid is a lifestyle blog dedicated to seaside tales, East Coast life, and every adventure in between. It is home to members of the sandy toes + salty nose society. It's a tribe of dreamers, sunset chasers, wave riders, and wander folk.